A SECTION OF THE ANGLICAN JOURNAL

w w w . k o o t e n a y . a n g l i c a n . c a

MAY 2011 SERVING THE DIOCESE OF KOOTENAY

eople from throughoutthe Diocese gathered atSt. Stephen’s,Summerland, on

February 19 for a daylong confer-ence called “Let’s Sing Unto theLord.” The South OkanaganSimilkameen Regional Councilsponsored the conference. Themajority of participants came fromSt. Stephen’s, Summerland; St.Saviour’s, Penticton; St. Barbara’s,Okanagan Falls; and St. George’s,Westbank, with others comingfrom as far away as Vernon,Salmon Arm, and Grand Forks.The workshops covered a widespectrum of worship styles from“modern” assertive styles with jazzand electric guitar, to beautifulTaizé contemplative worship.

The day began with anaddress by the Rev. Canon ChrisHarwood Jones, of All Saints,Vernon. He spoke on the contem-porary music, likening jazz andimprovisation to spirituality, andhow to encounter God. His firstlove in music is electric guitar, andhe posed several analogies—a goodsound is an access to spirituality.

PHe alluded to the “Evangelical”churches where the majority of theservice is contemporary messagemusic. He also stated that whilewe must think outside the box,perhaps using jazz and improvisa-tion, we shouldn’t abandon ourfoundation and roots.

The Rev. Canon Rick Paulinof St. Stephen’s Summerland led aworkshop on liturgy and the useof music. Liturgy is prayer set tovarious rites and must flow withno breaks in it. Faith is presup-posed, and all that the Lord hasordered we will do. He presentedan overview of a BAS service, stat-ing that there must be room forpraise, petition, prayer, andsilence, with comments on whatAnglicans sing, and why, with theentrance, offertory and closinghymns being processional innature. He said that the “Peace” isjust that, for reconciliation andnot a time for general conversa-tion.

The Great Amen before theLord’s Prayer is the greatestresponse of the congregation. Heclosed with a quote from Ghandi— “There are three living areas of

Joyful noise in Summerland

BY MARGARETA JOHNSON

cosmos; fish who are silent, ani-mals who make sounds, and birdswho sing. Fish represent thedepths, animals the burdens of theearth, and birds the sky, or angels.We desire to be of the earth andmake everything earth, and wemust embrace all three aspects ofthe cosmos.”

Tracy Stuchbery then ledsinging in a short practice formusic that would be used later inthe Eucharist. During the lunchbreak participants mingled andtalked with people from otherparishes. Tracy, choir director atSt. Saviour’s, Penticton, led a dis-cussion on music in small parish-es, posing the question “how toget people to sing.” She statedthat while we must respect ourtradition, we must be adaptable todifferent styles, keeping in mindthe words as well as the music.The music program must be sup-ported in the church budget.

There was a discussion ofpersonal experiences of song lead-ing on occasions when there wasno choir or organist. She cau-tioned to watch for out-datedwords, especially in hymn tunes

ST. STEPHEN’S, SUMMERLAND, MUSIC CONFERENCE — Four workshop leaders the Rev. Canon Rick Paulin, the Rev. Canon ChrisHarwood-Jones, the Rev. Mike Stuchbery, and Tracy Pratt-Stuchbery

that people love. The participantswere presented with a booklet offamiliar hymns with new words.

The Rev. Mike Stuchbery,Incumbent at St. Saviour’s pre-sented a workshop on Taizémusic. This beautiful contempla-tive style of worship originated inthe ecumenical community ofBrothers that began during theSecond World War in the smallvillage of Taizé in France. Itinvolves the repetitive singing ofvery short prayers, the reading ofscripture, silence and some spo-ken prayer. These services arecontemplative in nature and typi-cally incorporate the use of iconsand candlelight. At the TaizéCommunity in France the servicesoften attract thousands of wor-shippers.

The day concluded with aEucharist service, containingmusic learned earlier. Participantsreported that it was a beautifulday, full of inspiration andinsight. The only drawback wasthat they could not attend all foursessions in the time allotted.

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P 7. Spirituality by Jane Bourcet

P 5. Camp Owaissi

P 4. Fr. Fitz by Jim Hearne

person will enable us to stepinto the future.

2. Our history of mutual ministrycongregations, congregationssharing a priest, and the devel-opment of shared ministrieswith other denominations overmany years is all steppingstones to the future. TheDiocese of Kootenay has beena leader in experimental min-istry for many years, and thatexperience has positioned uswell to explore alternativemodels for the way forward.

3. The plans for a new SynodOffice will see the emergenceof a Diocesan Centre forMission and Education at St.Aidan’s Church in Kelowna.This will at once, strengthenthe presence of St. Aidan’s inRutland, and provide a centrefor not only the Bishop’s officeand staff, but space forEducation for Ministry andthe Kootenay School ofMinistry.

4. Together Education forMinistry and the KootenaySchool of Ministry will formthe foundation for the trainingof lay ministry and locallytrained deacons and priests. Assome parishes are no longerable to sustain seminary-

MAY 2011PAGE 2 THE HIGHWAY

The HighWay is published under the authority of the Bishop of Kootenay and the Synod of theDiocese of Kootenay. Opinions expressed in The HighWay are not necessarily those of the Editor orthe Publisher.

THE

HIGHWAY

EDITOR

Jonn LavinnderSt. Saviour’s Pro-Cathedral723 Ward Street,Nelson, B.C.V1L 1T3Phone: (250) 352-5711thehighway@shaw.ca

Submissions & Deadlines: All articles, advertising and correspondence submitted to The HighWayis subject to editing for length, clarity, timeliness, appropriateness and style in accordance with theCanadian Press. Letters should be limited to 250 words, columns and articles no more than 600words. Please include with all submissions your name, e-mail address and parish, as well as the nameof the photographer, if applicable. Deadline for submissions is the ffiirrsstt ooff tthhee mmoonntthh pprriioorr ttoo ppuubblliiccaa-ttiioonn unless otherwise indicated.

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Advertising material and inquiries should be addressed to the Editor. Payment is to be made inadvance to the Diocese of Kootenay.

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Printed and mailed by printed & mailed by Bowes Publishing, London ON.A section of the Anglican Journal.

Editorial AssistantMicahel Lavinnder

ome of you will be oldenough to remember the1951 movie “Quo Vadis?”starring Robert Taylor,

Deborah Kerr, Leo Glenn andPeter Ustinov. It was a film aboutthe destruction of Rome by Neroand the danger faced byChristians at that time. The title“Quo Vadis?” asked the question,“Where are you going?” It isPeter’s question to Jesus in JohnChapter 13, verse 36. It is also aquestion in the second centurywriting “The Acts of Peter.” Inthat work, when St. Peter meetsJesus as Peter is fleeing what is hisown likely crucifixion in Rome heasks Jesus, “Quo Vadis?” Jesusreplies, “I am going to Rome to

S

have retired or are preparing forretirement. We are facing adecline in numbers due to anaging population and every con-gregation is facing the question ofhow to bring the Gospel of Lifeto a new generation. Fewer of oursmaller parishes are able to sus-tain full-time stipendiary min-istry, and struggle to discern theway forward.

One of the challenges indealing with change is that noone has a crystal ball or a roadmap for the future. And so weface the future in faith, takingcare to build on the foundationswe have so that they mightbecome stepping stones into theyears to come. In Kootenay wehave built strong foundations forthe future. Over the next fewyears I anticipate that we willbuild the following steppingstones to take us forward:

1. The diocese has a history ofstrong financial stewardshipand we are fortunate not tobe dealing with operatingdeficits. Through the generos-ity of individuals and parisheswe are able to provide strongleadership to look forward.The continuing faithful andgenerous response of each

Website: www.anglicanhighway.com

be crucified again.” His answergives Peter the courage to continuehis own ministry and would even-tually lead to his martyrdom.“Quo Vadis?” “Where are yougoing?” That is a question thatsurfaces regularly in conversationthroughout the church these days.As Bob Dylan sang, “The timesthey are a-changing.” We all knowthat, and the changes can beunsettling and worrisome but thatthey also hold the promise of anew future.

The first thing to recognize isthat there will be sadness, grief,anger and confusion at thechanges. For those changes are sel-dom of our own choosing. Theyare thrust upon us by the widercontext of our lives, and we canoften find ourselves longing forthe way that things used to be.There will be experiences that feela lot like crucifixion and death inthe changes, but as followers ofJesus we also know of the promiseof new life.

The Diocese of Kootenay isfacing its own challenges in thesechanging times. There is a seachange in the leadership of ourparishes, as strong, faithful leadersare growing older and passing onthat leadership to younger people.Several of our long time clergy

Privacy Protection: Photographs and articles submitted to The HighWay for publication requiresthat authors and photographers have received permission from parents or guardians of all minors(under 18) that have their names or whereabouts published in The HighWay.

trained clergy, the KootenaySchool of Ministry will formthe future leaders for oursmallest congregations. Somelarger congregations may alsoidentify and call local clergyto give leadership in theirmission and ministry.

5. As the diocese moves to a reali-ty with fewer stipendiary cler-gy, we will see the develop-ment of some congregationsas “mission centres” where thelocal church with seminarytrained clergy, expand theirmission to include support(with resources and person-nel) for the smaller neigh-bours in the region.

6. Finally, a renewed emphasis onthe Mission of God and theFive Marks of Mission for theAnglican Communion in ourNational Church willstrengthen our own sense ofmission in the Diocese so thatwe refocus our sights not onour own survival, but on arenewed vision of our role inGod’s dream for the world.In my view, the question

“Quo Vadis?” is upon us. As weseek to faithfully follow the RisenChrist into an unknown future,we know we follow the one whodied and rose again that we mighthave life and have it abundantly.

Faithfully,+John

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ome ancient Christianimagery shows the risenChrist confronting thedevil and laughing at him.

Part of the lore of Easter is thatGod played a joke on Satan byraising Jesus from the dead. Thisold Christian custom celebratedthe day after Easter as BrightMonday, a day to laugh and frolicand delight in the good news ofresurrection life, a day of joy andlaughter. Early Christian theolo-gians called it risus paschalis, theEaster laugh.

We’re not completely sureabout the origins of the custom,but it may be inspired by a ser-mon by 4th century Greekpreacher John Chrysostom, whoenvisioned the resurrected Christlaughing at the devil. An oldadage has it that the devil can’tstand the sound of laughter andslinks away from it. G.K.Chesterton once wrote: “Angelscan fly because they take them-selves lightly. Never forget thatthe devil fell by force of gravity.They who have the faith have thefun.”

A story is told that GrouchoMarx got off an elevator one dayand happened to meet a clergy-man. The clergyman came up tohim, put out his hand and said, “Iwant to thank you for all the joyyou’ve put into the world.”Groucho shook hands and replied,“Thank you, Reverend. I want tothank you for all the joy you’vetaken out of it.”

A 2007 study among 16 to29-year-olds showed that (amongother things) 87% thoughtChristians were judgmental, and68% that we were boring. What asad thing! It seems we talk aboutjoy a lot ... but much too oftenwith long faces.

Wow! What a wake-up call!What kind of image do weChristians project about the life offaith? Is this what the “joy of theLord” is all about?

It’s time to put an end towhatever it is we’re doing thatpromotes that kind of imageamong others. And what bettertime of the year than Easter?Surely, this is a time to rejoice, tolaugh, to chortle, to titter, tocrack up, to giggle, grin and guf-faw. Easter gives us an opportuni-ty to “rejoice in the Lord” in waysthat actually look like rejoicing.

I encourage you to delightnot just in Bright Monday, butalso in Bright Sundays, in wor-ship, in gatherings, in your inter-actions with friends and neigh-bours. When we laugh, wedelight in living out of God’sabundance.

I forget the source, but a fewyears ago, I read: “What I havelearned … is that the more youexpect from life, the more yourexpectations will be fulfilled. Bylaughing, you do not use up yourlaughter, but increase your storeof it. The more you love, themore you will be loved. The moreyou give, the more you willreceive.”

Ain’t that the truth?

S

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ARCHBISHOP’S PAGE

Quo Vadis?

BY ARCHBISHOP JOHN E. PRIVETT

In My View

Dear friends,

BY YME WOENSDREGT

The laughter offaith

TThhiiss ccoolluummnn hhaass bbeeeenn wwrriitttteennwwiitthh tthhee iinntteennttiioonn tthhaatt iitt mmaayy bbeerreepprriinntteedd iinn llooccaall nneewwssppaappeerrss.. ffoorrtthheeiirr rreelliiggiioonn ppaaggee.. YYmmee wwiillll bbeewwrriittiinngg aa sshhoorrtt aarrttiiccllee eeaacchh mmoonntthheexxpprreessssllyy wwiitthh tthhiiss ppuurrppoossee iinnmmiinndd.. YYoouu aarree ffrreeee ttoo rreepprroodduucceetthhee aarrttiiccllee wwiitthhoouutt pprriioorr aapppprroovvaall..DDrroopp uuss aa lliinnee aannyywwaayy..

TThhee EEddiittoorr

MAY 2011 THE HIGHWAY PAGE 3COLUMNS

BY RANDALL FAIREY

Commentary

COGS wheels

RANDALL FAIREY IS A DELEGATE

TO THE COUNCIL OF GENERAL

SYNOD AND EXECUTIVE OFFICER

OF THE DIOCESE OF KOOTENAY

BY NISSA BASBAUM

n 1952 in Lund, Sweden,the World Council ofChurches adopted an ecu-menical principle. It

affirmed that Christian Churchesshould act together in all mattersexcept those in which deep differ-ences in belief compel them to actseparately. At the most recentmeeting of the Council of GeneralSynod of the ACC, members ofCoGS and the National Councilof the Evangelical LutheranChurch in Canada (ELCIC) revis-ited and celebrated the WaterlooDeclaration of 2001. This is a callto Full Communion, whichdeclares that each autonomousCanadian Church accepts theother as true, faithful, apostolic,and catholic churches. It establish-

I

es that members of each Churchare welcome as communicantsaround God’s altar, that eachother’s priests and pastors are rec-ognized in presiding at theEucharist and blessing the sacra-ments. Ordinations are mutuallyrecognized as authentic and there-fore, valid. Within the administra-tive practices of each church itmeans that such ordained personsare able to seek and be recognizedto interchange ministries freely,and for bishops to participate inordinations and installations ofclergy, and to mutually exerciseepiscopal leadership and authority.Perhaps most important is thateach church has agreed to seek toexpress, strengthen, and enable acommon life of witness and serv-ice to the Glory of God, and thesalvation of the world.

Ten short years later the lead-ers of these two great Canadianchurches stopped recently toaffirm this ongoing relationship,and to assess where we are in thejourney together. Much has hap-pened in this time and much isyet to come.

A significant development hasbeen the establishment of a JointAnglican-Lutheran Commission asa repository for ideas, leadership,and a practical forum in which tomeet. The Commission reported,and members of the LutheranCouncil and CoGS heard a “stateof the union” from ELCICNational Bishop Susan Johnson,and our Primate, Fred Hiltz.Several commitments were madein 2001 and we were heartened tohear that many of these have beenlived up to significantly. Someareas require ongoing work andrenewed energy. Although we havebeen successful in encouragingand welcoming clergy into oneanother’s churches, mutual partici-pation in the ordination of priestsand deacons has been wanting.This seems as much a matter ofremembering to invite one anoth-er, rather than any intentionalreluctance. There is still muchwork to be done around ourmutual understanding of the min-istry of all the baptized (clergy &lay), and a common understand-ing of diaconal ministry. Indeed,

in the Anglican Church of Canadaalone there is still wide variationin understanding the role of dea-cons from diocese to diocese.

The Evangelical LutheranChurch in Canada was constitut-ed in 1985 and represents thelargest Canadian LutheranChurch, as a member of theLutheran World Federation. TheLutheran Church — Canada wasformed from the Canadian con-gregations of the Missouri Synod.There are several different keybeliefs and practices between thetwo with those of the ELCICaligning itself most closely with“liberal” Anglicanism.

Notwithstanding, a decade ofproductive and quite remarkablefellowship, the fruits of theWaterloo Declaration now need tobe harvested in a more tangibleway. It surprises me that in theDiocese of Kootenay, as an exam-ple, with a few exceptions, there islittle evidence of practical comingtogether to do God’s Missionbetween the two denominations.Lutheran youth programs areoften outstanding, with the CLAY

(Canadian Lutheran AnglicanYouth) Conference being a won-derful example. Christian camp-ing, such that Camp Owaissi isable to provide, is a fertile, butstill missed, opportunity forLutheran — Anglican coopera-tion. Parishes struggling to meetthe needs of full time Anglicanministry seem to be willing tosearch for solutions such as part-time or non-stipendiary ministry,rather than invite a closer walkwith ELCIC congregations thatoften face similar stresses. In myview this is not so much a fear ofchange, or “doing Church” awhole new way, but rather astrange inertia, and a lack ofawareness of a remarkable dor-mant potential that the HolySpirit invites us to recognize andrelease. Pray that we may do so inthis next decade of walkingtogether, as I believe our Lord soearnestly desires.

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abbi and writer, HaroldKushner, tells a storyabout watching twochildren on a beach,

building a sandcastle. Suddenly,the tide comes in and completelywashes away all of the children’sefforts. As he observes the scene,what Kushner expects to see is atorrent of tears at the loss of thecastle. Instead, the two childrenlink hands and, laughing delight-edly at the huge wave that has justdestroyed their creation, they runaway to a place a little furtherdown the beach where they beginto build another sandcastle. Ofthis, he says:“…All the things in our lives, all thecomplicated structures we spend somuch time and energy creating, arebuilt on sand. Only our relation-ships to other people endure. Sooneror later, the wave will come alongand knock down what we haveworked so hard to build up. Whenthat happens, only the person who

Rhas somebody's hand to hold will beable to laugh.” (Harold Kushner)

In a mirror image, this samesentiment is expressed in theGospel of Luke. Jesus relates thetale of a man who is so successfulin his farming that he has an enor-mity of crops. Not having anyplace big enough to store thesemany crops, he decides to buildan especially large barn to housethem. Unfortunately, upon com-pletion of the barn, he is visitedby the angel of death who informshim that his time has come: “Thisvery night your life is beingdemanded of you. And the thingsyou have prepared, whose willthey be?” In one swift moment, ahuge wave renders worthless thisman’s possessions. Of what valueto him are they now?

A number of years ago, afterreturning home from a short tripto Montreal, I was greeted withthe unhappy news that my com-puter hard drive had crashed. Myhusband, Robin, went on theinternet on another computer inthe house, where he discovered

that there is even a name for whatthe laptop was doing. Called the“click of death,” the sound mycomputer was making was that ofa hard drive that once was but isno longer. Worse still, while Ithought all the files were backedup, this turned out not to be thecase. That “death click” was myentrance into hell. It was as if myworst nightmare had been real-ized. I walked around the house ina daze, not fully conceiving whathad hit me. The reality of the situ-ation seemed to come in waves —not unlike the feelings of nausea Iremember from my second preg-nancy. And, like those feelings ofnausea, all I wanted was for thosewaves to go away.

My children would tell youthat when it comes to their moth-er, there are times when “gettingout of the way” would definitelybe the most sensible thing to do.Without a doubt, the loss of myhard drive and the discovery thatthere was no back up should havebeen one of those times.Surprisingly, though, I foundmyself speechless; unable to say

anything. Later on in the week,Robin told me he would have pre-ferred a bit of yelling. “Thesilence,” he said, “was deadly.”

This story’s tide turned thefollowing Monday morning whenI went on another computer in thehouse in order to send an email. Iplugged in the name of the personto whom I was writing, wrote themessage and pressed SEND, onlyto have the email program replythat my contacts had no record ofthis person. I shuddered as anotherwave came over me. I had forgot-ten that my address book had, ofcourse, also been wiped out.

As I began to type in theinformation for the contacts whichI could remember by heart, how-ever, the cloud began to lift; therewas something extraordinarily free-ing about starting from scratch.The address book that was filledwith all sorts of outdated peopleand places no longer existed. Itwas in that moment that I realizedit wasn’t just the important stuffthat had disappeared; all my junkwas history, too, and the recogni-tion of this made me feel lighter

than air. Like those two childrenon the beach, starting over wasbeginning to look like a newadventure. Like the message in theParable of The Rich Fool, it’s alljust material things, really, and ofwhat value are these things incomparison to the relationships wehave with one another?

My story is neither new norparticularly unusual. Most of ushave in one situation or anotherbeen in the same spot. It is thevery place the disciples discoveredthemselves to be following thedeath of Jesus — wandering aim-lessly, wondering how to go onwhen all that we regard as impor-tant has apparently evaporated.Only by grabbing the hand ofsomeone else — as did those chil-dren on the beach — are we ableto realize that “death” often carrieswith it not just loss but alsoopportunity.

What appears to be hell maywell hold within it the key to ourliberation and that, I think, is theessence of resurrection.

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The liberation of Hell

MAY 2011PAGE 4 THE HIGHWAY

MEMOIR

‘was in the early 60swhen Fitzroy IvanRichards came to theDiocese of Kootenay.

He was a native of Trinidad.He often said he was “Trini tothe bone.” He had some expe-rience previously in theMaritimes. In fact, when ourPrimate visited us, I asked himif he remembered Fitzroy andhe said that he did. He wasnot the kind of person that onesoon forgets. Fitz was appoint-ed to the old, Kaslo — Slocanparish. One former member ofthat parish remembers him as“the priest who taught us howto limbo.”

He would do some shop-ping in Nelson and stop by ourvicarage at Seven Mile on thenorth shore. As he passed byAinsworth, he would picksome watercress, which grewby the roadside. We wouldhave a chicken ready for himand he would go to work withit and the watercress and ourample supply of spices with thechef knife flying, and in a shorttime “chicken carib” would beready.

Fitz came to us as anunmarried man, but that situa-tion would soon be remedied.His beloved Carol or Yuklinarrived from Trinidad alongwith her dress and the wedding

cake. Fitzroy and his bride havea special Afro-Oriental ethnicmix. There was one memorableevening at the home of Boband Norma Brown. Bob wasthen Dean of St. Saviour’s Pro-Cathedral. Fitz held us spellbound with a seemingly endlessmonologue.

Yuklin and Fitz were mar-ried at the Pro-Cathedral andtheir reception was held at thehall of the Church of theRedeemer in Fairview, Nelson.This poor scribbler was the bestman.

One night, Fitz and Yuklinstayed overnight with anotherclergy family. The master bed-room had been given over tothe guests. A young daughterwas given to wandering in hersleep and from time to time shewould crawl into bed with herparents. That night, she enteredher parents’ room and crawledinto bed with the guests.When it was discovered thatshe had crawled into bed withguests and not her parents, sheretreated. Years later, the younglady was now well into herteenage years. The bishop hadinvited all the clergy families toa reception. The girl attendedwith her parents and FatherFitz was there. When he sawher, he said, “O Emily, remem-ber when you slept with me?”Emily (the name has beenchanged to protect the inno-cent) looked for a hole in thefloor where she could hide.

TFrom the Kaslo-Slocan

Parish, Fitz moved to theArrow Lakes and then toSalmon Arm. From there hebecame the rector of St.Laurence Church in Calgary,and following that journeyed tothe U.S. and the Diocese ofOlympia. In his retirement, heresides in Burlington, WA.

Fitzroy found it hard to layaside the tempo of the Islandsand often when a hymn wouldbecome too dirge-like for himhe would up the timing bypounding a faster beat on thealtar.

While still at the Kaslo -Slocan parishes, it was withpride that he accompanied thefirst female synod delegate toher place among all that malegathering.

Fitzroy was looking forsomeone to make him a chasu-ble. He was visiting the homeof a young family. He knewthat the wife had some expert-ise in sewing. Upon enteringthe home, he saw a diningroom table piled high withfreshly laundered clothing andlinen neatly stacked and readyto be put away. Looking at thetable he said, “Are you going tohave a rummage sale?” Hestruck out on anyone in thathouse making him a chasuble.

Fitz and I were to beordained within weeks of oneanother. He first and I wouldfollow on the feast of the

Annunciation of the BlessedVirgin Mary. His day wouldhave been a major commemo-ration in January or Februaryof 1963, but unfortunately heand his rector, Charlie Reeve,had a bit of a falling out andhis ordination was delayed. Hewas denied the privilege of amajor feast day for his priest-ing. He was ordained on thefeast of St. Richard ofChichester. “Richards onRichard’s” so to speak, like theVancouver pub, and who couldforget the Prayer of St. Richardmemorialized in GODSPELL:

“Day by day this I pray,To follow thee more nearly,To see thee more clearly, andTo love thee more dearly. . .”

Fr. Fitz

BRIDE & GROOM — Fr. Fitz and Yuklin

The Vicar of Kokanee remembers

BY JIM HEARNE

So on an early April morn,three clerics set out forFitzroy’s place of ordination:All Saints, Vernon. They wereCaptain Arthur Nash, ChurchArmy, Father Stephen Lee, andyour humble servant. Ourmeans of transport was Fr.Lee’s car. He was not a friendof automobiles. The route cho-sen was somewhat unfriendlytoo: the Monashee Pass. Fromtime to time chains needed tobe applied to make our way. Ishall not forget the sound ofthose worn chains hitting thewheel wells: THAWK,THAWK, THAWK as werolled along across theMonashee. Miraculously wereached our destination bynightfall and were able to walkwith the ordinand inwhite. ❑

SERVERS AT THE BANQUET — Helpers and chefs prepare for the Pancake Supper at Christchurch, Cranbrook

photo sally passey

MAY 2011 PAGE 5 THE HIGHWAYAROUND THE DIOCESE

Cathedral Building Project — St Michael's House

St. Michael and All Angels — our diocesan Cathedral — isnearing the end of a financial campaign to fund the construc-tion of St. Michael’s House. To date, through gifts, pledges andbequests, the parish has raised over one million dollars, definite-ly something to celebrate; yet additional funds are needed forthe construction to be completed.

Approval to proceed is in part dependent on financial con-tributions to the project. Your support of our Cathedral,through immediate gift or timed pledge, will help to realize thisventure and to encourage a revitalized diocesan ministry. Pleaseassist us in achieving this goal.

Here is my gift or pledge to help complete the construction of St.Michael’s House. (Tax receipts will be issued.)

I pledge $__________/ month for ______ months OREnclosed is my gift of $_________

My name:____________________Phone:____________

My address:____________________________________

_____________________________________________Please mail this, and make cheques payable to:St. Michael’s Cathedral,608 Sutherland Avenue,Kelowna, B.C. V1Y 5X1St. Michael’s supports the Kootenay Forward Fund

THREE SALMON ARM CHURCHES SHARE EASTER SERVICES —The Ash Wednesday churchservice in Salmon Arm was held on March 9 at St. John's Anglican Church, and an ash cross wasapplied to every forehead. Participating in the service were, from left, Rev. Laura Hermakin,Anglican; Rev Juanita Austin, United; and Rev Erik Bjorgan, Deo Lutheran.The three churches willmeet again before Easter and the three ministers will participate in the services. On MaundyThursday, April 21, there will be a service and pot-luck at First United at 6 p.m., and the GoodFriday service on April 22 will be at Deo Lutheran at 10:30 a.m.

photo sally scales

photo micahel lavinnder

NEW APPOINTMENTS FOR KOOTENAY WEST — Regional Rep. - Cathey Straume (left), Chair -Ed Edmondson, Secretary - Ann Wood, Dean - Canon Neil Elliot, Vice Chair - Ean Gower,Treasurer- Linda Linn.

photo jean stahl

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER — St.Paul’s, Salmo, was host to the World Day of Prayer with 7 church-es taking part in the service. Participants were given a small loaf of bread as they left.The themeof the service was “How Many Loaves have You” written by the women of Chile.

Kootenay WestKooteny West Regional Council — Highlights March 26

GOOD NEWSStatistics on Episcopal ChurchGrowth show that churcheswith a clear mission and pur-pose; those with joyful andexpectant worship; those withmultiple and varied services;those that actively want togrow; those with active web-sites and those who follow upon visitors are most likely togrow.EDUCATIONThe region will set up a sub-committee to meet and reviewthe origin, intent, criteria,application guidelines of thefunds given by the formerKokanee Region. EDUCATION EVENTSThere will be two KootenaySchool of Ministry courses inthe region. 1. Church Administration,

May 20-22 in Trail led byArchbishop John Privett.On Saturday May 21 therewill be a day-long sessionfor Treasurers and Wardensat no cost.

2. Liturgy, September 2-5 inNelson, led by ArchbishopJohn Privett and the Rev.Anne Privett.

LAY MINISTER RETREATDAYOpen to Lay Ministers andanyone interested in becomingone. Local reps. to report backto Dean Neil Elliot.REGIONAL GATHERINGSub-committee consisting ofthe Rev. Simon Shenstone,Adrienne Kinakin and JaneGower to organise a RegionalGathering at Pass Creek Parkin September.WEBSITEThe region will allocate anannual budget item up to$200 to set up and maintain aRegional Website; each congre-gation to provide an adminis-trator to maintain their ownarea of the Website.PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLEImportant point to those lead-ing the Prayers of the Peoplethat they should leave times ofsilence and invite the congre-gation to pray themselves. ❑

COLUMNS MAY 2011PAGE 6 THE HIGHWAY

BY DOUG HODGKINSON

Movie review

Everybody’s Fine

and lives well because she is“kept.”

Frank was mugged in thebus depot and important med-ication was lost, actually delib-erately stomped on by a personhe was trying to help.Eventually he gets into a healthcrisis when he insists on flyinghome to get emergency med-ication from his doctor. In anhallucination he has conversa-tions with his children as littlechildren, including Danny onwhom he put so much pres-sure, as the eldest child. He hasfinally learned that Danny hasdied in the jail in Mexico.

Critics have been damningin their faint praise of Di Nirocalling him About Schmidt’sboring brother and that themovie is, at best, merely “fine.”True enough, Di Niro presentsa calm and decent characterwith little of his usual quirks,ticks and fireworks. The out-come is a tad neat to go withthe Christmas family reunionending. Those of us who didn’t

rank has been wid-owed for eightmonths. He fills histime pottering about

the yard in his decidedly mid-dle class home in Connecticut.He worked all his life in aPVC factory coating telephonewires and seeing to it that hisfour kids all got good educa-tions so that they would dowell in life. He is looking for-ward with keen anticipation totheir all coming together for abig summer family barbequebut they all with one accordbegan to say, “I cannot come.”Frank’s a little hurt and con-fused by this but he decides toset out and make surprise visitsto each of them! (Who woulddo this with adult children?)Because he has heart and respi-ratory problems from his life’swork he travels by train andbus.

Robert is a musician andplays timpani in an orchestra.Frank thinks that he is theconductor! Is Robert happy?On one level he is. He is doingwhat he wants and functioningat the level that is least stressful“because he is not goodenough to be a conductor.” Hehas a great sense that he hasdisappointed his father whomhe thinks has impossibly highstandards to try and fulfill.He’s always seen him asdemanding, tough, and dis-tant. The kids talked with theirmother who was the centre forcommunication in a traditionalfamily role as tension manager.Frank heard what he wanted toand expected to.

Then, it is on to Los Vegasto see Rosie who is a dancer ina show that has unfortunatelyjust closed so Frank won’t get achance to see it. She lives inwell-fixed circumstances andoccasionally cares for a childfor a friend. Turns out thechild is hers, she’s not dancing

First he visits Danny inNew York City, but Danny isnot there, though Frank gets tosee a bit of Danny’s work as anartist, first in graffiti on wallsin the neighbourhood and laterin a local gallery. Danny nevershows up, so he moves on bytrain to surprise Amy inChicago. Amy is a very success-ful ad executive who lives in afabulous house with husbandand son, but things are clearlystrained, not just from the sur-prise visit. As we watch Frankblunder in and ask, “Are youhappy?” we cringe at hisgaucherie, but also at his grow-ing confusion. The very tele-phone wires that Frank hasmanufactured hum with anx-ious warnings, as Amy phonesRobert in Denver to warn himthat his father is coming. Aswell, the brother and sisters arevery concerned about Dannywho has a drug problem and isin jail in Mexico, but no one isgoing to be the one who tellstheir father.

always pay as much attentionto our children and spouses aswe ought to have done, andthose of us who had bigassumptions about what ourchildren would be or do willprobably experience a frisson ofrecognition as Frank comes torecognize what is really goingon. Like all of us Frank uncon-sciously sets out with forgive-ness in mind, to give andreceive; to his children for notbeing straight with him; forhimself for being tough anddistant.

At one level the story istrivial. As Frank rolls pass themiles and miles of telephonewire that are his life’s work themoral is “we should all com-municate more.” At moredepth the language of the BCPconveys a profound truth: wehave done that which we oughtnot to have done and we haveleft undone, that which we oughtto have done. The solution is tohand.

Directed by Kirk Jones, starring: Robert Di Niro (Frank); KateBeckinsale (Amy); Lucien Maisel (Jack); Sam Rockwell, (Robert),Drew Barrymore (Rosie), 100 minutes, Drama/Comedy, 2009.

F

You wanted to know

BY PETER DAVISON

Can we expecta religiousrevival?

A recent studyby the PhysicalSociety in theUK suggestedthat all religion

will disappear from the ninecountries surveyed. The ninecountries are Australia, Austria,Canada, the Czech Republic,Finland, the Netherlands, NewZealand and Switzerland.Employing a method known asnon-linear dynamics,researchers examined statistics,trends and the effects of criticalmass on societies and theirinstitutions. Even the moresuccessful religious institutionsseem to be fighting a losingbattle.

On the other hand, reli-gious sociologist Reginald

Q:A:

gruent elements illuminate oneanother, and drive us to sur-prisingly new insights andunderstandings. Sometimes wecall these “Aha! moments.”Jesus reminds us that GOD isalways a surprise, leaving us ata loss for words — such a con-trast with the glib clichés ofmost televangelists!

So how can we communi-cate faith in an age of unbelief?First, we have to accept thatfaith is not about havinganswers, but learning to askthe right questions. Faith isnot certainty, but openness tothe unknown; and Christiansare not people who havearrived, but pilgrims unafraidto venture into an uncertainfuture. As people of faith, weaccept that GOD has noname, and is often experiencedin silence, or as a strange voicecalling us to leave behind thefalse certainties that always letus down. It is this unnameableGOD who says to us, “In the

tion, withheld documents fromparliament, and generally been“economical with truth.”

Clergy (and preachers inparticular) are under increasingpressure to deliver sermons andcourses which relate to us“where we live.” In an agewhen churches have becomemarginalised, and biblical refer-ences are foreign to most peo-ple, what have we to offer?Various colleagues have admit-ted to having difficulties withtraditional religious formularies— even with any religious lan-guage at all. “God-talk andchurch-speak” are turn-offs formost people, it seems!

If this horrifies us, wemight remember that Jesus’power lay largely in his abilityto reject traditional religiouslanguage in favour of parablesdrawn from everyday life. Heunderstood that the key to dis-covering the deeper meaning oflife lies in metaphor and poet-ry, in which seemingly incon-

Bibby has recently observedthat faith communities, like allinstitutions, go through cyclesof decline and revival. Thestudy of history offers animportant perspective on cur-rent events and situations.

Critical to our understand-ing of all this is an appreciationof language. One of the hall-marks of the 16th CenturyReformation, and the EnglishReformation in particular, wasthe translation of the Bible andthe liturgy from Latin into“language understanded of thepeople.” A present-day parallelmay be found in the populardemand for “plain-language”legal and medical documents,enabling people to understandbetter the issues with whichthey are confronted, and makeinformed and responsiblechoices. At the time of writing,one of the federal electionissues has to do with com-plaints that the governmenthas blocked access to informa-

dark night of your souls, andin the wilderness of your fears,I will be with you, and willprovide you with what youneed, and lead you home.”

Still, there are those whowould tell us that “salvation”lies in literal readings of scrip-ture and a return to 16th cen-tury doctrinal and liturgicalformularies which, ironically,were designed to open up aclosed system, not shut thedoor on faithful enquiry!Seductive promises of certain-ty and linguistic beauty areneither biblical nor helpful. St.Francis may have said it bestwhen he said, “Preach thegospel: use words if necessary.”

Perhaps the end of reli-gion as we have known it isnot a threat, but a foretasteand a promise of that “glori-ous liberty” to which GODcalls us.

Can we expect a religious revival?

❑

❑

MAY 2011 THE HIGHWAY PAGE 7COLUMNS & CLASSIFIED

ou may have some ofthese or have seenthem in a ministersstudy, small paper-

backs in red or brown or skyblue. You may even have seenan almost complete set stackingthe shelves somewhere (Thesets are almost never complete!)And when you saw it, if youthought about it at all, youmay have wondered, “Are theyany good.” Well, the shortanswer is “Yes.” But don’t skipthe rest of this review, or I’llhave all the theologians/ bibli-cal studies people in the dio-cese on my back.

William Barclay was a pro-fessor of Biblical Criticism in asecular University. He was alsoa broadcaster and a minister.His aim in writing the DailyStudy Bibles was to “conveythe results of scholarship to the

BY NEIL ELLIOT

Y

Phone: 250-426-8117 Fax: 250-426-8127

EEmmaaiill:: mmaarryywwooooddrreettrreeaattss@@sshhaaww..ccaa WWeebbssiittee:: wwwwww..rreettrreeaattssoonnlliinnee..nneett//mmaarryywwoooodd

MARYWOOD RETREAT CENTRE

821 Westwood DriveCranbrook, BC V1C 6V1

ordinary reader.” He describedhimself as a “theological mid-dleman.” In other words theseare the product of an academicwho wants to let ordinary peo-ple into the insights of currentthinking. Now you need toknow that these were writtenin the 1950s and revised in the1970s. For some this isnowhere near recent enough.Others (including myself )would argue that for most peo-ple the level of academicknowledge given here is morethan adequate. This focusmeant that the commentary isnever convoluted or complex.Barclay’s genius is to giveenough detail so we can under-stand more of what the NewTestament text means.

The content of these booksis a mixture of academicinsight and devotional encour-agement, with the emphasis on

the former. In particularBarclay majors on the meaningof words, always giving evoca-tive explanations of the waythat the Greek words wereused. This is why I value thesecommentaries — they help meat the level I need to behelped. I have a full set of aca-demic commentaries of theGreek text, and I am able touse the original text. ButBarclay is often the short-cutto the information I need.Crucially this information isnot outdated. The text of theNew Testament is not in signif-icant doubt, and the meaningof the Greek words is also sta-ble. These are the terms thatBarclay is focussed on, so thecommentary is sound. Theonly difficulty I have with the20th century language is thelack of inclusivity, which fre-quently grates.

DIRECTED PERSONAL RETREATS:

May 26 - June 3 June 11 - 19July 21 - 29 August 5 - 13

Directors: Nina Glinski CND & others

The Daily Study Bible New Testament Commentaries

by William Barclay

In My Good Books

or many of us there aremoments in our liveswhen we are touched by afeeling of something

more going on. We have a feelingthat life isn’t randomly happeningaround us, that there’s more thanchance to the great scheme ofthings.

Perhaps we’re out walking ourdogs and become deeply aware ofthe warmth of the sun on ourface. We notice the clean scent ofgreen, or perhaps the decayingedge of Autumn. We’ve becomemore acutely aware of the beautyof the natural world all around usand reflect upon the perfect con-nectedness of this world.

Or we meet up with an oldacquaintance, seemingly by coinci-

dence, who provides us with justwhat we needed. Or a friendunexpectedly gives us a phonecall, precisely when we’ve beenthinking of them and we get asense of a marvellous synchronici-ty.

We may be alone at nightcurled up on the couch andcocooned by a silence thatstrangely doesn’t feel isolating orlonely. Thoughts may be goingthrough our minds that lead tomany questions, but we feelpeacefully at ease and calm.There’s a feeling that we’re notalone.

These are all moments ofspiritual awareness — moments ofrecognizing, even fleetingly, thepresence of the Divine. For inthese moments, we are assuredthat there is something greatergoing on than simply this physicalworld of tables, shampoo andapple peels. We seem to be drawnbeyond ourselves, and feel knownand loved at a deep unspeakinglevel.

It’s easy in this hurry upworld that we live in to lose sightof these discerning moments.Even though we may be growingtowards seeking them out, we losetrack of those shimmeringglimpses of the Divine.

It often takes a jolting experi-ence in our lives to shift the waywe perceive things. Like fish inwater, the spiritual world is theenvironment we live in, whetherwe acknowledge it or not. Thefish doesn’t question the water,because that is its world and thatis all it knows. Unlike the fish, wehuman beings have the marvellouscapacity to wonder, reflect, ponderand question. Often times whatwill prompt contemplation of ourspiritual lives are precisely thosetimes when we feel “out of synch”.Like a “fish out of water” gaspingfor oxygen, something happensthat call all we’ve held certain intoquestion. This “fish out of water”experience can be an illness; amarriage break down; a job loss orthe loss of a loved one. We are

suddenly catapulted into a placewhere we need to re-examine ourvalues and priorities. The founda-tions of our lives crumble and weare like stroke victims having tolearn to walk and talk like a tod-dler again.

As children, we are more intouch with this spiritual aware-ness. We have more of a sense offascination and curiosity. We seethrough eyes that explore thewonder of our surroundings, andtry to make sense of simple thingslike how our hands can grasp. Wecan be totally focused upon thewriggling of a caterpillar becausewe are seeing through eyes thatstill innocently perceive and wit-ness without judgement. We feelthe excitement and joy of swing-ing sooooo high on a swing in aplayground. Everything is freshand new and we’re so alive andaware. We are not yet caught upin and distracted by the rushed,multi-tasking culture in whichwe’re growing up. And we haven’tyet changed our value system into

placing more importance on the“doing” and the “having,” asopposed to the “being” and the“experiencing”. With time we shiftfrom viewing something as won-drously precious simply because itis, to viewing someone as impor-tant because of their reputation, orsomething as valuable because ofits monetary worth.

The spiritual life is about liv-ing every moment out of thischild-like consciousness that weare indeed living amazing lives in aworld full of all things new in thisvery moment. Awareness is at theheart of perceiving the Divinewoven into the fabric of our lives.This awareness is developed andnurtured through practice andtraining, which sounds like onemore item on the To-Do List, butis really a matter of recapturingthe eyes of a child open to theabundance the Divine has in store.

❑

F

Spiritual awareness

BY JANE BOURCET

In researching this review Idiscovered another way inwhich Barclay appeals. I hadassumed that he had a gentlyevangelical approach. Not so.He is a universalist, and a paci-fist and a sceptic towards thebiblical basis of the Trinity; inother words, he is a moderateliberal. However, he is a pas-sionate about his faith andabout communicating thatfaith. His delight is that hiscommentaries were well used“by minister, by missionary, bystudent, by layman.” Hisprayer was that “God may con-tinue to use The Daily StudyBible to enable men to betterunderstand his word.”

There is one more reason Iam reviewing this series. It isnow out of copyright, and Ihave discovered a full copy, ofall the volumes in the series, onthe internet. This means you

can carry a copy around onyour smartphone. I have bro-ken the download into twoparts, each of which is availablefrom the standrewstrail.ca website — my Easter Egg for you :-) Look for “media” and“resources,” and enjoy.

Happy Easter. ❑

William Barklay

THE HIGHWAY PAGE 8MAY 2011